Art Museum Closure

"Brandeis University's board of trustees has voted unanimously to close the Rose Art Museum as part of a campus-wide effort to preserve the university's educational mission in the face of the historic economic recession and financial crisis..." ** WOW.  I know this post is straying from my usual discussion of art literature I've been reading but it's such a huge thing that I feel the need to address the situation as a way to let out my frustrations.  I am truly disappointed to see that in response to financial pressure, this is the step that Brandeis University must take to maintain their status quo.  The implications of such a closure are huge.  Not only is all the work in the museum's collection is going to flood the secondary market (via auctions and/or private sales) BUT this sends out a huge message to the American public about the university's priorities.  Rather than shaving off a few extra dollars from all the different educational programs they run (in different subjects, I mean) in order to keep their art museum afloat, they are choosing to rid themselves of it entirely.  I'm sure there were tons of meetings among university officials during which they discussed possible ways to avoid this situation, however if the best conclusion they could reach was absolving this 50 year old institution, they didn't try hard enough.  It's a big hit for the arts and I hope that other university's don't follow suit.  

** (There are articles about this all over the internet, newspaper, and TV but my particular source for this quotation was found at mutualart.com)  

Mr. Obama Champions the Arts!

I'd like to draw attention today to a document that I came across on the internet written by our new president that states Mr. Obama's platform for the arts.  The things that I expected to find on this piece of legislation were all there: he addressed several aspects of art education, increased funding for the NEA (which I can't seem to believe will actually happen anytime soon due to the present state of our economy), streamlining visas in an effort to attract foreign talent, AND (something that I think is most interesting) working on an effort to provide affordable healthcare for artists.  That artists do not have health care never occurred to me, but I guess it makes sense (since most Americans receive their healthcare from the company which employs them... artists don't tend to be employed by companies... etc.).  I realize that Mr. Obama puts a lot of emphasis on working towards achieving affordable health care, but never really associated that with the arts - the connection makes complete sense to me and I hope that this goal is eventually reached. 

Anyways, it is a quite interesting read and I recommend all those interested in the arts that want to know our new president's position read this document!  And here's an artistic rendition of the man himself just to add a little flare to my visually-not-so-stimulating blog! 

record art price of 2008

Sadly, I have not had much free time to continue reading 7 Days In the Artworld.  I am still making my way through chapter 1 (which covers the auction house) and would like to include some interesting information which I came across the other day about auction houses.  Did you know that the record auction sale price in 2008 was a triptych by Francis Bacon and it went for a whopping $86 million?  I have only attended one art auction before and it was quite exciting (though no pieces went for 86$ million).  Actually, to be quite honest, it reminded me of horse races that I used to go to with my friends back in college.  The same sort of "what's going to happen next" energy was in the air and, though I was not bidding, I loved trying to spot the people in the crowd that were (though most of the bids came over the phone).  The highest hammer price was around $210,000, not including the buyers premium (thank you very much, Miss Thornton for improving my auction vocabulary!).  Anyways, if you've never been to an auction, I highly recommend it - even if you know very little about the art being sold, it is a one-of-a-kind experience just the same.  Sotheby's and Christie's auctions are free and open to the public and have their auction calendar listed online.  

Goodness, I just realized that now is a good chance to do some more reading - enough blogging for today! 

7 Days in the Art World

I just recently purchased a copy of Sarah Thornton's book titled 7 Days in the Art World (which was conveniently available in the art books section of Amazon.com) and can't seem to put it down.  A friend of mine said that Ms. Thornton gave a presentation for a class that she attends about a month ago and swore to me that after hearing her lecture, I absolutely needed to go read this book. I have always loved to read but have never been really been open to the idea of novels or literature surrounding the arts (maybe because it made me think of the tedious, late nights during my years as an undergrad where I would be up at odd hours of the morning struggling with pages out of a very dry art history book).  This book has very much changed my opinion of art literature.   In a very clever and expressive way, the author takes the reader through various aspects of the art market including the auction house, the art gallery, the art school, etc. and gives a very behind-the-scenes look at the way these various organizations function.  It is quite fascinating though I admittedly am only 1 chapter into the book.  The first chapter is about the auction house and presented so much new terminology that I was inspired to go do a little online research of my own.  

Can't wait to continue reading - until my next post... sold!